Give and Take: Potpourri of reader recipes

Oct. 29, 2013

Written by

Kimberly Ochsner

Give and Take

From ideas to use garden veggies to requests for fortune cookies, we’ve had a hodge podge of recipe requests lately, so consequently this week’s Give and Take is a potpourri of recipes.

Sure there’s snow on the ground, but I am including tomato recipes because I for one have at least 100 tomatoes that I picked green pre-frost that have since ripened inside.

(Thanks to Tribune gardening columnist Amy Grisak for the suggestion to place them in one layer and cover with newspaper. I had to place them on top of my cupboards to prevent them from completely taking over my kitchen, but your advice worked perfectly.)

Remember we have a Give and Take reader who is looking for the recipe for egg salad and ham salad club sandwich served at the old Woolworths. I’ve yet to receive any recipes, so if you’ve got something that’s close, send it to Give and Take, Great Falls Tribune, 205 River Drive S., 59405 or email it to giveandtake@greatfallstribune.com.

Next week, I’ll try for more comfort-food fair to reflect the weather, and it’s not too soon to send in your favorite Thanksgiving Day recipes. Enjoy this week’s offerings.

Roma Lee Fuson wrote in requesting a recipe that had run in the Tribune that used pears, cranberries and cardamom. The cardamom was the key to finding the recipe in the archives. Here you go Roma.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-by-9-inch pan with cooking spray.

To make the topping, in a medium bowl use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add the flour, oats, cinnamon and salt. Stir together until the mixture just forms moistened crumbs and small clumps. Set aside.

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To make the filling, in a medium bowl, toss together the pears, cranberries, brown sugar, cardamom, salt and cornstarch. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the pears are tender and bubbling and the topping is well browned.

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Candice Wagner recreated a well-worn recipe from her cooking files to help out a Give and Take reader in search of a fortune cookie recipe.

FORTUNE COOKIES

1 large egg ¼ cup sugar 2 tbsp. vegetable oil ¼ cup cornstarch

Gradually beat the sugar and egg until thick. Then beat in the oil. Add two tablespoons water to cornstarch and then add to egg mixture. Heat a heavy griddle until sprinkled water bounces off of it.

Drop a tablespoon of batter onto the griddle and spread it out to about four inches in diameter and 1⁄8 of an inch thick. Stir the batter before adding each mound of batter. Bake in the griddle turning with a wide, flexible spatula for about 5 minutes.

Remove one cookie at a time. Place fortune in the center of the cookie and fold the cookie in half twice. Makes 12 to 18 cookies.